El Rey Del Espino

I found the story to be pretty interesting the whole way through the film. Everything else was kinda inconsistent. Sometimes the audio was incredible and then another random time I'd notice a stock sound effect being used or a sound effect peaking. Visually there are some amazing shots but then there are the weird CGI visuals that don't quite work. This is definitely a film I enjoyed despite its pretty obvious flaws. Its definitely worth checking out and it seems like something I would watch Again despite my mixed feelings.

I knew nothing about King of Thorn going in, except that it is a horror anime. Its story begins to unfold with a sense of dread that is very palpable and unique. Nothing violent or apocalyptic occurs within the first 30 minutes or so but, without spoiling the story, those 30 minutes are very dreadful in terms of what looms on the horizon for a set of characters that have a mysterious disease. I remember feeling as emotionally frightened when I read the first third of The Stand, at a younger age, but King of Thorn managed a similar emotional tone without a story of massive, apocalyptic outbreak. The world of King of Thorn manages keep a tentative handle on the disease that plagues it and the dread comes from the sacrifice that the main characters decide on to find a cure, placing their well being in the care of a questionable corporation and tossing away their lives as they've know them.

That is the feeling I had in the first act of this movie. By the second act things become a bit more conventional. The second and some of the third act become survival horror in the vein of similar Japanese stories like Resident Evil. This does not take from the compelling nature of the story and its mystery, but did not feel as rare a story experience as the first act.

The third act however, is filled with exposition that is difficult to follow and otherwise loses interest for me. At one point things become more "anime sci-fi" (a concept I simply cannot explain well), which is not a problem; expect that I didn't feel the story up to that point was building toward it. It felt less creditable for me.

The last 20 minutes, things become very muddled and subplots for the remaining survivors and their true motivations get tangled up in a more and more nonsensical plot. Things become more fanciful for the sake of animation visuals and sci-fi explanations for such events, if not ignored, seem to be quickly served out. More interesting, if you can trudge through these problems, is the ultimate twist ending involving the young female protagonist.

And my major complaint with King of Thorn, however, is that many action scenes switch from the otherwise traditional 2D anime style, to a cell shaded CGI animation process. It's 3D computer animation that is processed to look flat and try to mesh with the majority of the rest of the movie's hand drawn style. No doubt this was a cheaper way for the animation team to create complex action scenes and have more control, but the two styles do not mesh well. The cell-shaded CGI is not as glossy in color as the 2D animation and also misses many drawing details, like grime and dirt on the characters faces. Inexperienced anime viewers might not pick up on the switch all the time, but may still feel the action scenes have an odd movement and don't quite sit right.

King of Thorn is a new anime movie based on a short manga series about a new plague called Medusa that infects most of the planet. It's 100% fatal once you're infected and it turns people to a somewhat fragile stone-like state in its last stage. In this cataclysmic scenario, a company proposes to put in cryogenic sleep a few hundred people at a Scotland castle facility until a cure is found. After some preparations and farewells, the chosen (I'm still not sure how they were selected) start hibernating. One girl wakes up after who knows how long, in the dark with no one else awake and with giant thorn vines everywhere. I'm not revealing anything that isn't in the trailer, in fact, I say less. A big part of the appeal of this movie is the gripping suspenseful story about a bunch of people trying to survive in an unknown and hostile closed-in environment (the castle) while trying to discover what happened not only to them but outside. It might seem like just a chase for a while (albeit a good one) but it turns out to be more complex and metaphysical. The grand mystery is even more fun because the nature of their reality is uncertain. The survivors were well characterized and I enjoyed them. I was afraid 2 characters looked too much the same at the start but it turns out they were identical twins (not a spoiler : I just didn't catch that early enough).

"King of Thorn" combines traditional animation for characters and 3d computer graphics for vehicles, most moving objects and certain creatures. They mix very well and seem to add depth to the proceedings. I think what helps is that the 3d objects seem to be drawn over or cell shaded most of the time so it's really not too jarring (far from Final Fantasy quality though). The characters are nicely drawn (yet traditional in style) and the action sequences are particularly exciting and dynamic with amazing direction. The decors are picturesque and/or sinister with of course lots of thorn vines everywhere. There's also a nice contrast between medieval castle (almost fantasy) look and sci-fi trappings. I would like to point out one of the last creatures seen (a gigantic green one) that was quite grandiose yet weirdly beautiful (perhaps more so because I did see this in a theater). This film has a nightmarish Sleeping Beauty castle aesthetic and that fairy tale is important story-wise. It also has a strong video-game influence in terms of structure and creatures as the young boy accompanying the group keeps reminding us. His enthusiasm is also responsible for the few smiles in an otherwise dark adventure. I haven't watched a ton of animes (especially the recent ones) but considering my elated reaction, it might deserve to become a new classic.

Rating : 8.5 out of 10

It seems, that last generation of Japanese writers are obliged to create story around school-girls and huge bodybuilders. They got great ideas and smash em at the dumbest characters. After interesting prelude outline and impressive visual you had to watch talking patterns until you eventually start scrolling timeline.

Compare to this decade King of Thorn not that bad. Good visual, multicultural characters, lots of fanservice, but with zero art ambitions. I understand why.. but still is a shame.

Somehow this show ended up on the free movies section on Xfinity several years ago and I probably would not have seen it even now had it not randomly appeared on there back in the day.

I first saw the movie and then bought the manga. Some reviewers who had read the manga first were upset because it completely changes the final act which is an understandable criticism. Had I read the manga first as well, I probably would've had some sourness too. I usually despise when animes do this because I know the only reason they do it is because the anime is not long enough to cover the whole story so they make up their own ending. It drives me nuts.

However, this is one of the rare times where after looking at both versions, I am ok with both endings though I do prefer manga version more. The movie still managed do get the fundamentals of the manga and prevent the story from falling apart.

The movie creates some new explanations from why certain things happen in the movie compared to manga in order to stitch up loose ends that the manga covered but the movie had to work without it.

Also, this is one of the rare times where I actually prefer the english dub on an anime that isn't done by Studio Ghibli. The voice actors did a pretty good job and added life and personality into their roles.

The big part of the movie revolves around twists and turns that are revealed in the final act that I cannot spoil. However, that is what makes the anime rise above many others in terms of story telling. Just like Perfect Blue, it makes you want to rewatch the movie instantly in order to see the story again but with the revelations in mind. You pick up on several details and moments you miss that make a lot more sense upon rewatch. Its part of the reason why I haven't forgotten it even after several years.

I would show anime blu rays back when I was in college and this movie by far got the most watches and positive reactions from folks who didn't even watch anime.

As for negatives, the CGI elements of the animation really stick out like a sore thumb since a lot of characters and setting do have very nice hand drawn detail in them. It feels lazy and tired. Still don't understand why studios think we won't notice it.

Also, the story is not for everyone. People who prefer more structured stories, endings wrapped up in a nice little bow, and happily ever afters will leave disappointed.

I recommend this anime to most anime fans and people looking to get into anime despite its flaws.